INTERACTIVE MAP: More communities take a stand on marijuana facilities

Tuesday

Dec 19, 2017 at 12:01 AMDec 21, 2017 at 10:44 AM

Caitlyn Kelleher Director of Multimedia @CMKelleher

Community-by-community, residents of Massachusetts are deciding if they want to be able to drive to the corner store to buy marijuana.

For the most part, residents are choosing “let’s wait and see” as communities agree to moratoriums on recreational marijuana facilities. However, a growing number of voters are saying no and banning commercial recreational marijuana facilities.

Residents in about a dozen communities have bucked the trend and said yes, as voters adopt local zoning and sales taxes or reject proposed bans.

Check out this map, updated as of Dec. 21, to find out what your community has decided.

This map was updated with information as of Nov. 30 based on reporting by GateHouse Media. The map will continue to be updated as new information is gathered. Click on each community to learn what each municipality is doing - shades of red are towns focusing on bans; shades of yellow are ones focusing on moratoriums; shades of green are communities with taxes or local zoning (or have rejected proposed bans and moratoriums); and towns in blue have either reviews in progress or town officials have decided to wait on any actions.

Wicked Local Staff Graphic/Caitlyn Kelleher

Many towns are waiting to see what state officials release for regulations on retail, cultivation and distribution locations and practices. State regulators are working to lay the groundwork for a new retail pot industry, and lawmakers in July passed a new law that tweaks the measure voters approved last year.

The first retail license is expected to be issued in July 2018. The state is supposed to release regulations on the industry before that, although the Cannabis Control Commission and the Marijuana Policy Committee have not released any draft guidelines yet.

Voters approved the legalization of marijuana for recreational (non-medical) use and authorized a retail marijuana industry in the state in November 2016.

In November, approximately 54 percent of voters approved the ballot question. Supporters carried 263 of the 351 communities in the state.